1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an amusement game and, in particular, to a game having a plurality of playing pieces that are operator-selected for random manipulation by a machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of coin-operated amusement devices, it has been the general practice to employ various types of machines having playing pieces capable of being manipulated by the machine to simulate a conventional game of chance, such as poker, roulette, craps, etc. For example, poker machines often include five playing pieces that are manipulated onto a playing field where they come to rest in one of a number of possible combinations of positions each of which represent a different poker hand. Depending on the value of the poker hand, the player is awarded a specific number of points. Designers of these poker machines have often tried to increase their level of amusement by introducing some element of operator skill into the operation of the machine. For example, some poker machines introduce skill by including playing pieces that must be skillfully manipulated by the player to obtain winning combinations with higher point values. Although, such devices have served the purpose, they have not proved entirely satisfactory for the reason that the game being simulated, poker, does not normally involve the skillful manipulation of playing pieces. An example of a skill employed in the game of poker involves the choosing of discards to improve the value of the hand. As such, designers of such games have long recognized the need for amusement devices that introduce an element of skill into a machine game that more closely resembles the skills used in playing the actual game being simulated. The present invention fulfills this need.